Demna Gvasalia is in fine form, but are we still fascinated with the looks?

Balenciaga may have cut ties with Kanye West, but their spring/summer 2024 collection could well be homage to Ye. With the hope that he could return to the fold—the famille? Or, perhaps, to set the stage for future collaborations with the Yeezy designer, just in case post-Gap opportunities arise? The heavy-looking, darkly-coloured clothes for both men and women, seemingly piled on like the homeless wearing their wardrobe on their backs, gave no indication whatsoever that they were destined for summer months. On the morning of the show, attendees had described the weather as “warm”, even when it was already the first day of October. But on the runway, the clothes did not reflect that or the next summer to come. This was in keeping with how Kanye West has loved to dress in the heat: bundled up (even when showing some buttocks in Venice while on holiday). Or, as he shared on Instagram last year, ““Sometimes I dress like it’s winter when it’s hot ’cause my outfit hot (sic).”

And how hot was Balenciaga? If it seemed like you had seen them all before, no one would blame your for being daft. But this time it felt more deliberate, more intense, like Y Project met Yohji Yamamoto, and finished with Balenciaga. The notes of the presentation said that the collection “is personal resonance. This show is a reflection of Demna’s world, and the identities that comprise his community.” Was Mr West in it? Not in person. As before, the show’s casted a ragtag bunch. The opening was given to Mr Gvaslia’s mother Ella and the closing to husband Loik Gomez (aka BFRND, although you’d never guess since he was shrouded in a “wedding dress”). Between that, individuals that the brand described as “friends, family and colleagues”, including (curiously) the Chinese actor Liu Haoran (刘昊然—is he really that chummy with the house?), transgender “performance artist” Amanda Lepore (she looked unchanged—like a burlesque act) and fashion critic Cathy Horyn (she looked like she was off to work at a government office in Springfield l, Missouri. Or incognito gone wrong). Could Ms Horyn be considered complicit in Balenciaga’s refusal to stop bundling up, even for summer? Does this mean she won’t be reviewing the show for The Cut?

In a space that recalled Burberry’s show (the models walked—bundled off?—on a peripheral runway), but framed with heavy red velvet drapes that evoked a theatre no longer basking in any glory, bulkily wrapped models bounded purposefully to an artsy soundtrack of French actress Isabelle Huppert reading in her native language from a manual La Veste Tailleur Homme (The Men’s Suit Jacket), which sounded like it was played on loop, against a pastiche of orchestral and electronic music mashed-up by BFRND. There was a sense of urgency in Ms Huppert’s delivery, which seemed to help the models—except Ms Lepore—to go forth, as if to aid in some war effort. When gowns appeared, the models weren’t exactly Cinderella going to a ball. This was, without doubt, Mr Gvasalia’s “community” doing what they do best: staunchly playing a part. But eight years after his appointment at Balenciaga, do this clothes extraordinary, or normal?

There is, at this juncture, rash inferences that Mr Gvasalia cannot go beyond this. The Demna-isms, as the media loves calling, that began at his previous brand Vetements, continued into Balenciaga and has remained resolutely. The bundles of clothes comprised upcycled outers that sported an extra pair of arms; blazers larger than before, with shoulders so massive that they often did not sit well, or with armholes too large that they dented and creased at the seams (an SOTD reader suggested that the imperfections were intentional); and more hoodies than you would ever need (worn two at a time). The dresses that were shown had the similar silhouettes that Mr Gvasalia is known for, but now came in floral vinyl—yes, those for table cloths that you may find in general supply stores in housing estate town centres, proving that his love for household materials (or commercial waste) had not waned, which also meant bags mimicked those carriers that normally would not have fashion pull, such as this season’s supermarket grocery totes that looked rather like those at Cold Storage. We hear die-hard fans rejoicing.